U.S. signs missile defense deal with Czechs, drawing Russian fire

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed Tuesday what she called a landmark missile defense deal with the Czech Republic that drew immediate threats of a military response from Russia.

The accord permits the siting of a tracking radar station on Czech soil as part of an extended U.S. missile shield that Washington says is necessary to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states such as Iran.

But Moscow immediately threatened to respond with "military resources" to what it sees as a threat on its doorstep from the proposed system.

"If a U.S. strategic anti-missile shield is deployed near our borders, we will be forced to react not in a diplomatic fashion but with military resources," a statement from the foreign ministry said.

"It's truly a landmark agreement," Rice said after signing the accord with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. "It is an agreement that is befitting for friends and allies who face a common threat in the 21st century."

During her talks in Prague, Rice charged that Iran's work to build longer-range missiles was proceeding "apace" while at the same time it was defying international calls to halt sensitive nuclear technology.

"Ballistic missile proliferation is not an imaginary threat," the top U.S. diplomat warned.

Rice also reiterated Washington's position that the radar station was not aimed at Russia and instead served as a "building block" for not just Czech and U.S. security but for the "international community as a whole."

The United States wants the radar twinned with interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland, although negotiations with Warsaw have become bogged down with Polish demands for additional security guarantees.

Rice said she thought it made no sense to visit Poland during her current tour of Europe because gaps remained in the negotiations.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had already clashed with U.S. President George W Bush over missile defense at their first face-to-face meeting, during a G-8 summit in Japan on Monday.

Analysts say the Russians fear not only a potential long-term threat to their own nuclear deterrent and the security of their airspace but also associate the shield with NATO's enlargement to include Ukraine and Georgia.

NATO endorsed the U.S. missile defense plan at its April summit in Bucharest.

The U.S. has in the past suggested that Russian inspectors could visit the anti-missile sites, as long as Prague and Warsaw agreed.

"We want the system to be transparent to the Russians," Rice insisted Tuesday.

Protesters from Greenpeace who fear the missile shield will trigger a new arms race, unrolled a massive image of a target on one of the hills overlooking Prague ahead of Rice's arrival.

Opinion polls regularly show around two-thirds of Czech opposed to hosting the U.S. radar.

Around 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Prague's central Wenceslas Square, with banners proclaiming "No to the Radar" and "Resign."

But Schwarzenberg expected the deal to be ratified by parliament. "There are sufficient lawmakers who are sufficiently aware of their responsibility and will go forward in strength during the voting," he told reporters.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said the deal reflected a "joint desire to protect the free world."

Rice later told Czech television there will "be multiple states that will ultimately be involved in one way or another" in the shield, when asked if the United States sought to pressure Poland by hinting at using Lithuania as an alternate interceptor site.

"Lithuania is very interested and we're talking with those who are interested," Rice said according to an audio tape provided by the State Department. "Primarily we will continue to talk to Poles about this."

Rice admitted "there is still a long way to go in developing these systems," but said the U.S. and the Czech Republic would jointly work on them and derive economic benefits from private sector involvement.

Prague was the first leg of a three-country tour that will take Rice to Bulgaria and Georgia where she will renew U.S. support for Tbilisi's bid for NATO membership -- another bone of contention with Moscow.

She will also try to calm matters between Moscow and Tbilisi over the separatist Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. But she accused Moscow of fueling tensions by failing to consult with Georgia over a presidential order offering Abkhazia direct relations.

© Wire reports